


My Place: The Origin

by SkylaDoragono



Category: Bleach, Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Crossover, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-05-15
Updated: 2011-05-15
Packaged: 2017-10-19 10:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylaDoragono/pseuds/SkylaDoragono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <i>My Place.</i>  Being an arrancar in the middle of the shinigami's world is hard enough as it is, especially with Aizen's actions months before still looming over everyone’s heads.  When Luke’s dreams of Auldrant become a nightmarish reality, however, he will have to travel to the bowels of the spirit world to find answers, and perhaps even the one thing he craves: a way home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Place: The Origin

CHAPTER ONE

_Drums were beating in his ears as the land flew by under him, showing him a familiar forest wrapped around a river that eventually led out to the sea. It stopped at the clearing of selenia flowers and the makeshift house that had been built there, but it was not the same as when he had last seen it. The selenia flowers had died, leaving nothing but dried up brown husks behind, and the house had fallen into decay, the wood rotting away on the frame. It appeared as if no living thing had touched the place for thousands of years, yet he knew that was not true – he could sense a human presence within._

_He came down, standing before the door hanging from a single hinge, before pushing his way through to the inside. There was nothing left in the small home except a single chair, occupied by the source of the presence. She gazed up at him, only one of her blue eyes visible, though that was enough to see the sadness that she had suffered. He moved to approach, but stopped as she closed her eyes, refusing to look at him._

_"...you broke your promise."_

_With that said, her body became stiff and ridged, before suddenly crumpling to dust before his eyes..._

Luke fon Fabre jerked upright in his bed, a cold sweat from his nightmare making his hair cling to his forehead. His heart hammered loudly in his chest as he fought against his ragged breathing, wanting nothing more than to let out a scream of desperation. Another nightmare, another dream of Auldrant; they were steadily becoming more and more frequent, to the point where they were disrupting his everyday activities.

A loud snort nearby made him jump, and he turned slightly to see his master roll over onto his back, letting out a very strange sounding murmur, before falling quiet again. Luke stared at the pink haired man in the middle of beauty sleep that looked far removed from beautiful, before managing a faint smile, grateful that at least one of them could sleep well.

Moving silently, Luke slipped out of bed, going over to the door that led out to the garden and slipping outside. The cold air of winter was still lingering in Soul Society, leaving a crisp chill to the wind, but the sun slowly rising in the east was chasing it away, bringing with it the warmth of spring. He let out a sigh as he settled down on the step that led down to the miniature garden, resting his head on his knees. Even in such a peaceful setting, apprehension gnawed away at his insides, making him wish that he had the power to rip open the fabric of reality himself and go straight to Auldrant, to make sure everyone was really okay. But he could not, and no matter how much time he spent in the divide between the spirit realm and the human world, he could not find the door that had taken him to his home world either.

Luke raised his head to the sky, watching as the last of the stars winked out, before letting out a soft sigh.

"Tear..."

The familiar tinkling of chimes reached his ears, and Luke let out a soft noise as he turned, spotting a Hell Butterfly – the messengers of Soul Society – floating down toward him. He reached out a finger, allowing it to perch, and listened intently to the message it had to convey, eyes slowly widening.

_"Eh!?"_

~.oOOo.~

Luke's feet pounded loudly against the floor that led to Captain Kurotsuchi Mayuri's private lab, struggling with his shirt in an effort to conceal the Hollow void in his chest. He finally managed to get it to cooperate before he burst through the doors, managing to school himself just a little before he approached the computer at the center of the lab, where the other mad scientist he answered to was sitting.

Mayuri did not bother to look up as Luke approached, still typing away at the machine. "You did not bring your master? I am actually surprised."

"I did not want to wake him," Luke replied, trying to hide the unease in his voice, "besides, you said this involved a fonic signature..."

Mayuri let out an amused laugh, finally turning around to look up at him. It was taking some time to get used to the other scientist; of course, the shinigami captain was a genius – maybe even more so than his master, though that was debatable – but his personality... Luke was not used to dealing with someone that had such an excessively blatant disregard for the lives of others. Sure, his master was perhaps equally morally bankrupt, but he knew he had a place in his heart. He was fairly certain that there was nothing in Mayuri's heart but his own desires.

"Oh yes, arrancar~" the captain said in a sing-song voice, and Luke had to fight against a frown. That was yet another thing he did not like – he never had the decency to use his _name._ "A fonic signature giving off those same 'Seventh Fonons' that you are made up of."

Luke's heart leapt up into his chest; his first thought was that somehow Tear or Asch had found a way to breach the void, but he squashed that thought down not long after it came to him. No, the two of them would not be able to give off enough Seventh Fonons to be noticed like this, even if it was Asch, the original Scion of Lorelei. If it was not the two of them, and it was giving off a large enough signature to be detected, then... Luke frowned, especially when he noticed the wide yellow grin on the captain's face.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou... it's attacking the human world, isn't it?" he asked. "It's not something that's alive, is it?"

Mayuri waved a hand, though his grin did not fade. "Why are you asking when you already know the answer?"

He turned his attention back to his computer than, typing in a few commands, before an image appeared on the screen. It was somewhere on the outskirts of Karakura Town, in a suburb Luke did not recognize. Trees had been knocked down and garbage and other debris littered the street, no doubt caused by what could only be described as a massive blob with a white mask. Luke frowned as he shuffled closer for a better look, but the picture was not very clear – most likely the surveillance equipment Mayuri was using had been damaged in the carnage.

"Our Quincy friend stumbled on to this one," Mayuri began, and Luke hid a private groan. Speaking of surveillance equipment... poor Ishida. "There is no data on it, other than what you see before you, as well as the Seventh Fonon signature. Also, it keeps babbling in a language that is not known on Earth. Perhaps you know it."

A tap later, and what would sound like a loud, echoing wail to someone unfamiliar with the language flooded the room. Luke, however, inhaled sharply at the cry, feeling his stomach sinking all the way into his shoes. Silence filled the room as Mayuri cut the audio, turning up to look to him, but Luke ignored him, trying not to shake as his mind processed what he just heard. Abruptly, he spun around on his heel, starting off out of the room.

"I'm opening a Senkaimon gate," he stated. "I'm going to the human world."

~.oOOo.~

The Senkaimon let Luke out right at the edge of the destruction he had seen on Mayuri's computer screen. Moving cautiously, a hand on his sword, he carefully picked his way through the debris, stretching his hearing out for the least little sound in the overwhelming silence. It came in the form of a soft groan, and his head whipped about, spotting where Ishida Uryuu was half buried under a sign that had fallen from a nearby store. He lifted it off of him easily, tossing it aside before kneeling beside him, checking him over for any serious injuries.

"Are you okay, Ishida-kun?" he asked, reaching his hands out and mixing the Seventh Fonon with his reiatsu and projecting it outward to heal him.

"Luke...?" Ishida murmured, adjusting his glasses. "Why did they send you?"

"You could say I have an interest in what attacked you," he replied, stopping once the Quincy's wounds closed up and helping him stand. "Do you know where it went?"

Ishida reluctantly held onto him, and Luke could feel him wobble slightly despite the healing. He looked around at the mess, a bitter frown on his face, before he answered.

"Just follow the debris field," he replied. "That... creature did not seem to be in its right mind."

"It probably wasn't..." Luke murmured softly, looking around as well, before turning back to Ishida. "All right, I'll take you to Miss Orihime's place for some proper healing. Then—"

He was cut off as that loud cry suddenly rang through the air, accompanied by an explosion as the blob-like creature from the computer suddenly ripped through a building. Wood and brick flew everywhere as Luke covered Ishida, letting out a hiss of pain as he took the brunt of the flying debris. The creature loomed over them, soft cries still escaping from it as the dust settled, its focus on the two of them.

Luke paused, turning to look up at the massive thing. It was huge, much taller than the surrounding buildings and just about as wide around. Its massive expanse was a deep purple color, with swirls of green mixed in, especially around the hole in what was supposed to be its chest. High above them, a bleach white mask leered down at them, points at the very top making it look like some kind of clergyman’s hat. The creature hovered down close, a pair of tiny wings somehow keeping it afloat as it got close, _staring_ at Luke... before it suddenly reared back, letting out a different cry from before.

"Tch... I knew it..." Luke murmured as the creature lashed out at him, though he was not there. Sonído had allowed him to grab Ishida and flee to a safe distance. "Stay back, Ishida-kun! I'll deal with this!"

"But it—!" Ishida tried to protest, though he found himself talking to air.

Luke appeared before the massive Hollow again, his sword lashing out to strike at the creature. It sunk into the purple and green flesh and... nothing. He let out a worried noise, trying to tug his sword out, only to have it pulled in further. The creature let out a dark echoing chuckle, pulling the sword right out of his hands and absorbing it into its massive body. Luke stumbled backward, letting out an annoyed noise... before running straight toward the creature, jumping toward it and being absorbed as well.

 _"Luke!"_ Ishida yelled from where he had been left, pulling out his bow and taking aim for the Hollow. He had tried to warn the arrancar, to let him know that it absorbed anything that touched it. Why the hell would he run right _into it?!_

He got his answer a few minutes later. The creature turned toward him after his shout, the bleach white bone spreading into a massive grin as it approached him. Ishida started firing before it even got close, trying to keep it back as he watched his arrows just vanish into the purplish green flesh. Just as it closed in on him, however, the creature paused, something letting out a loud rumbling noise. A worried look crossed the monster's face, before its lower half suddenly burst apart, sending the upper half flying. Flaming wings flared out as bits of purplish gunk splat all over the road and buildings (and Ishida), followed by a resounding thud as the monster’s remaining half landed.

Ishida stared at where its complete form had been, and the other creature that had burst out from inside.

"You are _insane!"_ he bellowed. "Absolutely, absolutely _insane!"_

Luke blinked up at him, as if he were actually surprised by Ishida's response, before a bit of a sheepish look came to his face as he reached back, rubbing the back of his neck. He hovered just above the ground, seemingly bouncing on the flaming tail of his resurrección form as he let out a small laugh, shrugging a moment later.

"...I couldn't just let it eat my sword..."

Ishida's hand smacked against his gunk splattered forehead, as something shifted behind Luke, drawing his attention away from the Quincy. He narrowed his eyes as he watched the upper half of the creature attempted to pull itself up on one arm, the other arm having blown clear off in the explosion. It uttered something softly, drawing a faint sigh out of Luke.

"Do you understand it?" Ishida asked.

Luke only gave a small nod in answer, solemnly approaching the creature. He spoke to it softly, thankful that he could speak without someone other than the Hollow knowing what he was saying. Words were exchanged, and from Ishida's point of view, it almost seemed as if nothing was going to happen now… until the Key of Lorelei suddenly appeared in Luke's hands. He raised it up over his head, the weapon glowing brightly with Seventh Fonons before he swung it down sharply, cleaving the creature’s mask in half. It screamed in pain, yowling something unintelligible, its remaining arm reaching up to the sky as it began to disintegrate.

Silence fell as the creature dissolved away, and a moment passed before Luke returned himself to his sealed form, his hands clutched at his sides. Ishida observed him for a moment, adjusting his glasses before he spoke.

"You knew him."

"...yeah," Luke answered softly.

"Who was he?"

Luke was silent for a moment, before turning away. "A holy man. We referred to men of his station as 'Grand Maestros'."

He moved to leave, before he paused, hesitating a moment. "Ishida-kun, I know it's asking a lot, but please don't speak of what happened here. I can't explain it right now, not yet."

Ishida frowned at that, stomping toward him and planting a hand on his shoulder. "If your demons are coming from Auldrant to this world, that's one thing. But if they are coming to the human world to bring harm to Karakura Town, then I _have_ to say something."

Luke shot him a severe look, shrugging off his hand. "Not yet you don't. Not until I know for sure what just happened tonight."

He spun on his heel then, walking off to where he would be able to open another Senkaimon gate and return to the Twelfth Division. It would be hard enough to fake a report with Captain Kurotsuchi being able to watch everything through the Quincy; it would be even more aggravating if the human could not keep his mouth shut.

~.oOOo.~

_"Do you understand it?" Ishida asked._

_Luke only gave a small nod in answer, solemnly approaching the creature. He gazed upon the half destroyed blob for a long moment, before he began to speak in a language that was now found on Earth._

_"Why are you here?"_

_The monster turned its bleach white head up to him, letting out a soft sound. "I do not know..." it replied. "I was pulled from the Abyss, and this world changed me."_

_"It didn't change you by much," Luke replied dryly. "You're still as you are when we killed you."_

_"Please... please kill me again. While I have a moment of lucidity; let me return to the Abyss."_

_Luke fell silent, eyes unreadable from behind his glasses. Abruptly, he raised his sword, the weapon glowing brightly with Seventh Fonons before he swung it down sharply, cleaving the creature's mask in half. It screamed in pain, yowling something unintelligible, its remaining arm reaching up to the sky as it began to disintegrate._

_"Farewell, Mohs..." Luke whispered, barely heard above the monster's cry._

A finger reached out, stabbing a key to pause the playback, before hands pressed themselves together, touching the owner's lips. It had taken some doing to tap a line into Mayuri's private computer, so he could access the spy bacteria the Quincy was covered in as well, among other things. When he saw Luke leave their apartment in the Twelfth Division, he suspected the captain was dragging him into something.

Szayel Aporro Granz was not expecting this.

He never told Luke he had taught himself the Fonic Language; he had wanted it to be a surprise when the redhead found a way back to his home. Having to use that knowledge like this... he was actually at a loss for what to do right now. Should he confront Luke? Should he wait?

"Luke..." he murmured softly, shutting off the monitor.


End file.
